Gustavo Petro has served as the President of Colombia since August 7, 2022. Born on April 19, 1960, in Ciénaga de Oro, a municipality in the northern Córdoba department of Colombia, his full name is Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego. He later moved with his family to Zipaquirá, a salt-mining town located approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Bogotá.

Gustavo Petro received his early education at Colegio Nacional de La Salle in Zipaquirá, a Roman Catholic school once attended by the writer Gabriel García Márquez. He later continued his higher education at Externado University of Colombia in Bogotá, where he studied economics.

At the age of 17, while still a university student, Gustavo Petro joined the M-19 movement, a left-wing guerrilla organization named after the disputed Colombian presidential election of 1970. The group emerged as part of a broader wave of insurgent movements in Colombia during the 1960s and 1970s, seeking to overthrow the government through armed struggle. Within M-19, Petro’s primary role was the storage of stolen weapons.

Gustavo Petro entered formal politics in 1984 when he was elected to the Zipaquirá city council. In 1985, he was arrested for possession of firearms, homemade explosives, and M-19 propaganda and was imprisoned. During his incarceration, M-19 guerrillas seized Bogotá’s Palace of Justice, taking numerous hostages. The subsequent military assault resulted in the deaths of approximately 100 people, including half of the justices of Colombia’s Supreme Court.

Released from prison in 1987, Gustavo Petro played a role in peace negotiations between M-19 and the Colombian government. Talks with President Virgilio Barco led to an amnesty for group members, after which M-19 transitioned into a legal political party known as Alianza Democrática M-19.

In 1991, Gustavo Petro was elected to the Colombian House of Representatives as a member of Alianza Democrática M-19. After receiving death threats, he fled Colombia in 1994 and spent two years in Brussels, Belgium. Upon his return, he was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1998 and later elected to the Senate in 2006.

In 2008, Gustavo Petro announced his intention to run in the 2010 presidential election. He competed in the election held on May 30, 2010, but finished in fourth place. On October 30, 2011, he won the Bogotá mayoral election with 32% of the vote and assumed office on January 1, 2012.

During his tenure as mayor, Gustavo Petro faced an impeachment campaign initiated by opposition parties. On December 9, 2013, Colombia’s Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado removed him from office and banned him from political activity for 15 years. The decision sparked widespread protests, as it was criticized for being politically motivated and undemocratic.

Despite a precautionary measure issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights suspending the sanction, President Juan Manuel Santos approved Petro’s removal, and he was formally dismissed on March 19, 2014. However, on April 23, 2014, a judge from the Bogotá High Court ordered his reinstatement, citing the commission’s ruling. Gustavo Petro returned to office and completed his term as mayor.

Gustavo Petro ran again in the 2018 presidential election but was unsuccessful. In the 2022 presidential race, he once more became a candidate and won the second round held on June 19, 2022, securing 50.42% of the vote. With this victory, he became President of Colombia and officially assumed office on August 7, 2022.

Marriages:
First spouse: Katia Burgos, whom he met in Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba. They married in 1985, and their son Nicolás Petro was born in 1986.
Second spouse: Mary Luz Herrán, whom he married in 1988. They have two sons, Andrea Petro (born 1991) and Andrés Petro (born 1992).
Third spouse: Verónica Alcocer García, married on December 7, 2000. They have two children, Sofía Petro and Antonella Petro. He later formally adopted Verónica Alcocer’s son, Nicolás Alcocer Petro.

Source: Biyografiler.com